The journey of a blogger isn’t always a path of roses. When a blog gets the most shares, it’s an achievement no doubt. But what about the efforts behind that ‘perfect’ blog? The prime blogging journey begins with topic selection, which is perhaps the hardest part of building a successful blog. You also have to keep in the back of mind the actual purpose of engaging your audience through your blog article. And owing to the time crunch and deadline, most bloggers just start random scribbling.
And this is all the more arduous for novice bloggers who have less experience. Coming up with a suitable topic is a demanding affair for the. However, it generally tends to get easier with experience.
So don’t be in haste and make the mistake of choosing the wrong topic. A hurried wrong topic can cost you a lot!
1. Know your audience
Nothing is more important than your audience. After all, you are doing all the hard jobs for your audience only; to satisfy their hunger for good contents. Since they are your ultimate target audience who will read, analyze, criticize and praise your work, your article or topic must be the best for your audience. You just cannot consider a specific topic to be unanimously accepted. No! You need to understand your readers, scrutinize their preferences and create custom content accordingly.
Only then you would shine as a true blogger.
2. Choose a topic that you’re passionate about
Don’t choose a topic simply because it is trending. Trends come and go, but your passion remains with you until the end. Creating blogs around trending topics is perhaps good, but when you think long term, it becomes a burden for you. The reason behind is, you don’t have your personal interest or investment into it.
Most successful bloggers write on various topics, encompassing the ones they are passionate about, as well as the trending hot topics. You have to have a perfect parity between topics you are passionate about and the trending ones.
3. Find a blog to steal from.
You must have heard, “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.”
If you are after a stellar topic, then check out the blogs with unique contents and nibble on them. Well, don’t take me as nefarious. The intention and purpose over here are absolutely not vile enough. Stealing a content or an intellectual property is a strict no-no.
However, what I suggest is, go and check the blogs within or outside your niche. Identify which one are hitting the right target and just follow their example. Simple!
You may make a list of five such blog articles that you think are doing it right. Write down the headlines, remodel them based on your own niche, and then write up your own blog.
4. Find a topic source
Just as I discussed above, for any good write up, the theme or the topic is of utmost importance. Not only you must stay true to your passion in search for a topic, but also you need to find a good topic source. That source can be anything. Print media, electronic media, social media platforms, or any incident from your own life.
Once you tap into that source, do your research, add your unique magic touch and tailor it to your own content. There’s no secret formula as such for a stellar blog. You just need to invent your unique modus operandi to construct your quintessential blog.
5. Take advantage of helpful content tools.
You may search for popular articles in the various content tools online. For e.g., Feedly is one such tool where you can identify trending topics. Marketers can subscribe and bookmark the blogs that are relevant to their business. Another such website is Buzzsumo, where you can find relevant topics to take an idea for your next blog.
6. Cater to the audiences’ needs
You would definitely think that after the preliminary research, your job is done. But no, there is more to think before you put your thinking cap on.
- The Freshness of Topic – Is it focusing only on the latest issues, or is there any long-term appeal?
- Think about the Future – Will the topic be relevant in the future?
- The Emotion Quotient – It is imperative that your audience can resonate with your passion and emotion. While choosing a topic, ensure that there is an emotional touch in your blog that appeals your readers.
It is not that difficult to mine up great topics. You just need to do some digging and delve deep into the topic sources and references. With time, experience and practice, you can actually create blogs that your audience will care for.
So what are your ways to come up with great topics? Let us know in the comment section below.
